Primary Navigation

Tech News 2Night 193 (Transcript)

[Top TN2 Animation ]
Tonight! Dropbox says it wasn't hacked- all those usernames were stolen, Snapchat's plan to make money, and Aereo asks the FCC for one more chance.
Tech News 2Night is Next!
[TWiT Open]
[Main TN2 Open]
This is Tech News 2Night Episode #193, for Tuesday October 14, 2014
This episode of Tech News 2Night is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter makes hiring faster, easier and cheaper. Post your job to 50+ job boards with one click. Try ZipRecruiter with a FREE 4 day trial now at ziprecruiter.com/tn2. That’s zip recruiter dot com slash tn2
I'm Sarah Lane, Let's get right to the Tech Feed!
The Information is reporting that Snapchat is modeling the way it makes money off popular Asian mobile messaging companies like KakaoTalk, WeChat and Line. It reportedly wants to become a platform for other services, like gaming or e-commerce, and The Information reports the company is in talks with Stripe to integrate mobile payments. KakaoTalk, WeChat, and Line have all introduced multiple internal and external services to their apps, like mobile games, e-commerce functions, and peer-to-peer marketplaces, like eBay. Gifting features let you can send someone physical flowers on their birthday while chatting, online banking features, and specific branding functions for advertisers. Users can pay to receive messages from their favorite celebrities, and clothing companies can chat with customers to help them figure out things like sizing.
Speaking of Snapchat, the company has clarified in a blog post that there are third parties who have gained access to the app’s API, but are not supported by the company. Snapchat says it doesn't have a public API because it takes time to create an “open and trustworthy” third-party ecosystem, and until it does that, it’s working with Apple and Google to take down third-party apps that aren't data secure. Snapchat says giving any third-party app access allows a developer, and possibly a criminal, to access your account information and send information on your behalf. But that doesn't help you if you don't know who might be using a third-party app and receiving your media. Seems like having a private API that is actually private would be a great idea for Snapchat.
/
Ireland’s government has announced it will make changes to its business-friendly tax arrangements by closing a loophole used by multinational tech giants. In recent decades, Ireland has enjoyed economic growth and jobs strategy based on its low corporate tax rate and other incentives that make foreign companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Abbott Laboratories want to do business there. The Irish government is phasing out what is known as the “double Irish” provision, which allows corporations with operations in Ireland to make royalty payments for intellectual property to a separate Irish-registered subsidiary. That subsidiary, even though incorporated in Ireland, usually has its home in a country that has no corporate income tax.
/
Aereo, the streaming video service that lost its battle with TV broadcasters in the Supreme Court this summer, is now looking for a longer-term victory in Congress. The Federal Communications Commission is deciding whether or not to extend regulations for satellite television providers, cable companies and other "multichannel video providers" to Aereo and other "linear" online video distributors. In a meeting last week, Aereo told the FCC that it would be willing to accept those regulations. But by accepting the label of Multichannelvideoprovider, Aereo would also need to start negotiating with broadcasters over content, or "retransmission" fees — which is exactly what Aereo's original business model was supposed to avoid. An anonymous Aero official tells the Washington Post: "This is a regulatory no-man's-land we're in right now. We need that regulatory clarity to move forward. This is not a good environment for any business to operate in, without having a clear sense for what the rules are."
/
And in your wearable tech corner of news, let's talk Fitbit. The company's original Force fitness tracker was a disaster- skin reactions forced the company to issue a voluntary recall and abandon sales of the product. But it appears to be back - Gizmodo has obtained marketing materials that reveal a new Fitbit Charge, and another model called Charge HR, that measures your daily steps, distance traveled, burned calories, sleep quality, etc. It also carry over some basic smartphone-connected features like caller ID, and in the Charge HR's case, adds heart rate monitoring that can continuously track your heart rate 24/7 through a new "PurePulse" system. It's worth noting that Fitbit hasn't officially announced either the Charge or Charge HR yet.
/
Apple and Facebook are both offering a new perk for female employees - both companies will pay for them to freeze their eggs. Egg freezing can allow women to put their fertility on hold for a number of years until they’re ready to become parents. But it's expensive: Costs typically add up to at least $10,000 for every round, plus $500 or more annually for storage. Apple covers costs under its fertility benefit, and Facebook under its surrogacy benefit, both up to $20,000. Women at Facebook already began taking advantage of the coverage this year. Now as you can imagine, this is a controversial company perk. Some say it levels the playing field for women in an inustry dominated by males, others say it manipulates women into working, rather than raising children, and that it's not a guarantee of pregnancy later on.
/
Say goodbye to Macworld - IDG World Expo released a statement today that the Macworld/iWorld conference is going on hiatus and no show will take place in 2015. The show was previously planned to take place in March, instead of its usual January/February timeframe. Apple cut off its Macworld affiliation with the conference in 2009. A few weeks ago, Macworld cut down its editorial staff to a bare minimum, and Macworld’s magazine also recently came to an end. The company’s MacIT enterprise focused event will still exist in 2015, according to the announcement, but I think we can safely say it's the end of an era.
Coming upGoogle holds Android 'tryouts' for desserts starting with the letter "L"
And next I'll talk with Peter Bright from Ars Technica about the 7 million leaked Dropbox logins
[AD]
"Are you hiring? Do you know where to post your job to find the best candidates?
Posting your job in one place isn’t enough to find quality candidates.
Cast as wide a net as possible and you won’t have to wonder if there was a better applicant out there who didn’t see your post.
ZipRecruiter posts to 50 plus job sites including Craigslist, LinkedIn, and Twitter. All with a single click.
Post once and watch the qualified candidates roll into ZipRecruiter’s easy to use interface.
No juggling emails or calls to your office. Quickly screen candidates, rate them, and hire the right person fast.
Find out today why ZipRecruiter has been used by over 250,000 businesses.
Right now, our listeners can try ZipRecruiter. For a FREE 4 day trial, go to ziprecruiter.com/tnt2. That’s zip recruiter dot com slash tn2.
And we thank ZipRecruiter for their support of Tech News 2Night."
[Segment #2]
Peter Bright , Technology Editor, Ars Technica
your article: ""7 million Dropbox username/password pairs apparently leaked""
Dropbox has 100-million plus users.
-Do we know how did they get these nearly 7 million usernames?
-Are these current or older logins?
-DropBox released a statement saying they were not hacked, are the at fault?
-Were these accessed through other services (similar to SnapChat)?
-Hackers say they will release more logins if they receive Bitcoin donations.
-Time to change password? What else? (two-step verification)
-What about other cloud services? Part of a broader issue?
## Peter Bright , Technology Editor, Ars Technica
[Kicker!]
The next version of Android is right around the corner, but which dessert will it be named after? In order to drum up some anticipation, Android chief Sundar Pichai tweeted out a video of various desserts trying out to be the official name of Android's L release - such as Lemon Meringue Pie? Lava Cake? and Lemon Drop? What about lollipop, or licorice? Google also released several new ads for Android this morning as it builds up to Android's next big release.
[good bye] That's it for this edition of Tech News 2Night.
Subscribe to this show at Twit.tv/tn2, and write us at tn2@twit.tv
Don't miss our morning news program, Tech News Today, tomorrow and every weekday at 10am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. I'm Sarah Lane, thanks for watching.